A Guardian's Care
by SupergamerGreg79
Summary: Rouge has been suspended from GUN, and Knuckles invites her to stay at his house for the night. But Knuckles is keeping a secret from her. Will he reveal it to her? Knuckles x Rouge. Oneshot.


This is a oneshot I planned on doing for some time now, and it involves one of my favorite couples: Knuckles and Rouge. Hope you enjoy.

If you don't like Knuckles x Rouge, hit that back button, back out of this story, and go find one that suits you. Otherwise, read on.

**Oneshot: A Guardian's Care**

It was a rainy night (about 8:30 p.m) in Central City. People were inside their houses, and those who were outside held umbrellas to shield themselves from the rain. Among them, a white bat wearing a pink top and black pants was walking towards the city limits.

She had a red umbrella shielding her from the rain, but some of it was still getting on her. She didn't like it. She was looking for some place to take shelter. Sonic wouldn't allow it because of Amy, Tails wouldn't allow it because of Cream, and Shadow wouldn't care a bit.

"This rain is such a drag. Is there anywhere I can take shelter in?" Rouge asked herself.

Rouge held a document in her hand. She had been suspended from GUN due to being blamed for the theft of a Chaos Emerald. The theft failed, but Rouge had been suspended because one of the cameras had a photo of her holding a Chaos Emerald while asleep.

In reality, she had been knocked out, and the emerald had been left with her. Who it was, she didn't know, but she was depressed that someone would go to the trouble of doing this. But at the moment, she didn't care.

"Stupid thief framing me for something I didn't do. When I find out who it was, I'll…Oh, why bother. Nothing's going to work. I might as well give up on life." Rouge told herself.

"Why would you do that?" She heard someone behind her say. Rouge turned around to see a red echidna walking up to her. He was holding a green umbrella. She knew that face anywhere.

"What do you want, Knuckles? Have you come to tell me not to steal the Master Emerald?" Rouge asked in a depressed voice.

"No, I heard you complaining about something, and I came up to you to find out what it was." Knuckles explained.

"Nothing's wrong." Rouge tried to tell him, but he would have none of it.

"Look, I know something's wrong. I've never heard you sound so depressed before. Usually, you're talking to me in a mischievous way. But the way you're talking now is not like you. You can tell me." Knuckles told her.

"Alright, but I'd rather not talk about it here." Rouge told him.

"That's okay. Let's go to Angel Island. You can stay with me." Knuckles offered.

"Aw, thank you."

* * *

Knuckles and Rouge headed toward Angel Island, where the Master Emerald rested. Knuckles had a secret house under the emerald altar, and he opened the door to let Rouge in before stepping in himself and closing it. He quickly grabbed a towel and handed it to Rouge so she could dry off from the rain.

"Here you go. Make yourself at home." Knuckles said.

"Thanks. But why are you being so nice?" Rouge asked.

"Because I care about you. I mean, sure you always try to take the Master Emerald from me, and sure you and I usually fight, but I don't mind. It gives me something to do other than save the world or watch the emerald all day." Knuckles explained.

"I never thought I'd hear that from you." Rouge told him.

Knuckles took a seat on the sofa.

"Now, sit down and tell me why you're so depressed."

Rouge sat down next to Knuckles and began to explain her story.

"Well, a few hours ago, someone tried to steal the Chaos Emerald that was held in the GUN base. I tried to save the emerald, but the thief knocked me out and left the Chaos Emerald with me. One of the cameras caught me with it, and it looked like I was sleeping. The whole setup led them to believe that I had tried to steal the emerald, but fell asleep during the theft. I tried to explain, but they wouldn't allow me to defend myself." Rouge explained.

Tears started to appear in her eyes.

"They immediately suspended my GUN license for 6 months. I enjoyed working for GUN, and I did everything I was told to without messing up. But now this had to happen, and I have nowhere else to turn to. I just don't know what to do anymore. Working for GUN was my life, other than being something of a thief, but now that I can't work for GUN, there's no other reason for me to live."

Knuckles didn't like the way Rouge was talking. She was thinking about ending her own life, all because of a suspension. But he remembered that Rouge loved working for GUN, and he remembered her saying something in the past about not knowing what to do if she were to lose her job, so he understood. He also knew that she had lost her motivation as a thief because of the suspension.

"Listen, Rouge, you can't just end your own life because of something like that. There are other things you can do with your life. You just have to search for it." Knuckles told her.

"Are you sure?" Rouge asked.

"Of course I'm sure." Knuckles said.

Rouge felt a little bit better. She hugged Knuckles and didn't want to let go.

"Thank you, Knuckles. Now I know that you'll be there for me." Rouge said.

"Of course I will. Also, there's something I want to tell you." Knuckles said.

"What is that?" Rouge asked.

"I love you."

Knuckles then lifted Rouge's head and kissed her. Rouge was surprised at the sudden action, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss. They were alone in their own world. They soon broke the kiss.

"Do you really love me?" Rouge asked.

"Yes. I've always cared for you, and I've had a crush on you ever since we first met. You've always wondered why I saved you from that death after our battle, right? That's because I didn't want you to die. After we left the ARK, I realized that I loved you. I just didn't have the nerve to tell you." Knuckles explained.

"I never thought of it that way. I always thought you never cared because you were so obsessed with protecting the Master Emerald." Rouge said.

"It may seem that way, but I'm not entirely obsessed with it. Sure, I take my job seriously, but that doesn't mean I don't care." Knuckles told her.

Rouge then yawned. Knuckles did too. They were both tired from the events that had happened that day.

"It's getting late. I think I should be getting home." Rouge told Knuckles.

"The rain's not supposed to let up until tomorrow. You can stay here with me for tonight." Knuckles offered.

"Really? You don't mind?" Rouge asked. "But you only have one bedroom."

"Not at all. My bed's too big for one person, though I do like the extra room." Knuckles told her.

"Well, alright. I suppose I could." Rouge accepted.

They headed into Knuckles's room, and Rouge saw that Knuckles wasn't lying. The bed could fit two people. The room had a lamp, a doorway that led to a bathroom, and what looked like an alarm system.

"What's the alarm system for?" Rouge asked.

"It's for when I sleep. If someone tries to steal the Master Emerald at night, the alarm goes off and wakes me up. Also, a cage surrounds the emerald, as well as the one trying to steal it, until I get there." Knuckles explained.

"That's nice." Rouge said. She then yawned again. "I think I'll go to sleep."

Knuckles and Rouge decided to lie down on the bed. Rouge rested her head on Knuckles's chest and she drifted off to sleep immediately. Knuckles kissed her one more time before falling asleep himself.

"I love you, Rouge." Knuckles said as he drifted off to sleep.

**End of Story.**

This proves that Knuckles isn't obsessed about the Master Emerald, and he takes his job seriously. I hope you all enjoyed this oneshot.

Read and Review.


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